How to create a culture of accountability

Many organizations struggle at creating a culture of accountability. While it’s definitely something that is more helpful when it’s done at a higher-level, there are certain things you can do to implement this on your team, or across several teams. You don’t need to wait for HR or C-Suite executives to initiate this. Perhaps you can join forces with some other leaders. Make sure you talk about how you’re doing this for your own performance review!

Expectations are only as good as their enforcement.

I suggest trying to understand why accountability isn’t happening to understand how to implement it. Are people struggling with holding themselves accountable and why? Is it distractions? Procrastination? Mental health challenges? Complacency? Saying “yes” to every request without setting boundaries? What are their personal standards? What are your personal standards? Do they match the organizational standards?

What happens when you don’t have accountability?

When you don’t have accountability, poor performers don’t feel pressure to improve, problems fester, you create a culture of distrust and disrespect among team members because no one is held to the same standards, and this all leads to excessive gossip and politics (eeeeeek).

What gets in the way of accountability?

We love to help people solve problems and provide the solutions / give the directions, but this entirely detracts from the person taking responsibility and finding solutions to their problems. I call this the “enabling manager” and after a while, people come to expect it and rely on it — they know they can come to you and be provided with the solution. This actually creates more work for you, the manager. Instead, take a coaching approach and ask them how they plan to handle it, what they feel they need to do that, etc. Then provide them with support and resources. They will feel more empowered and will have more buy-in to their own success. This is enormously powerful in creating a culture of self-accountability.

What needs to be done and done well

To create a culture of accountability, there are some things that need to be done and done well: (1) goals, standards, and consequences need to be clearly communicated and often, (2) regular progress checks need to be done (this creates structure and also sets expectations), (3) clear and effective feedback should be given often, (4) there should be rewards for team achievement, (5) investigate the root cause of poor performance — Was the person trained properly? Did they have the right resources and support? It might not be a lack of responsibility. It helps to look inward and ask yourself what role you played in this to see the full picture.

As a leader, you don’t want to be the sole person responsible for holding others accountable. You want to encourage peer-to-peer and self-accountability where equals hold one another accountable and people hold themselves accountable. To do this effectively, leaders should be leading by example and role modeling this behavior by holding themselves accountable (and where their words match their actions).

The quality of delegating tasks effectively and setting people up for success will only help you achieve success with accountability. Good luck!